In most circles, a doula is almost synonymous with an all-natural, vaginal birth. It’s true, doulas do help tremendously with vaginal births and you may even see doulas use the following statistic to sell their services (guilty!): "Women who hired a doula saw a decrease in cesarean births*." BUT, did you know that a doula can be just as beneficial for a cesarean birth?
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G - Gut Health In the last decade or so, gut health has been a hot topic. More research is being done and we are starting to understand the gut-brain connection.
Why is it important during the postpartum period and what effect, if any, does it have on baby? F - Find Your Tribe. After having a baby, many things will change, there’s no doubt about that. One of the more surprising changes many moms face is the fact that they feel isolated. Maybe you’re the first of your friends to have a baby. Maybe you follow gentle parenting and your friends follow traditional punitive parenting. Regardless of the reason, many times women find themselves “starting over” in the friend sphere.
E - Encapsulate Your Placenta. What is placenta encapsulation? What are the benefits? Are there risks? Why should I do it?
First off, let’s discuss what the placenta actually is. I feel like the placenta is not something that most people even think about unless you’re submersed in the birth world or really into natural birth. D - Development Today’s topic is all about Infant Development. You may be wondering how this ties into postpartum. One of the factors that influences postpartum recovery is how the infant is developing (Simkin). Which makes sense. If you, a new mother, have constant worries about how your newborn is developing, your mental health probably is not where it should be. Of course, we all worry to some extent that our children are developing on track but once it becomes an obsession, it needs to be addressed. Also, if the baby isn’t developing “normally”, this can lead to extra added stress on the parents which can be difficult during the postpartum period.
C - Connect. I’m not talking about reaching out to others for help. That’s another topic in itself. In regards to this post, Connect with yourself after birth. Really process what happened and move forward through any emotions you have surrounding the event. Trust me, you need to do this.
B - Bond. One of your most important jobs as a new parent is to bond with your baby. The benefits of bonding are immeasurable and the pay-off in the long run is outstanding. This is why it is so important to focus on healing and bonding in those first few weeks/months postpartum and to continue the bonding through your parenting style well into the third year.
A - ACOG's New Postpartum Guidelines It is not new news that the United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Between 2000 and 2014, the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births more than doubled.
Well, it's that time of year again..."flu season"!
While there are many ways to prevent and treat the flu, I wanted to take a moment and touch on the natural remedies our family uses. Earlier, I shared what was in my hospital bags for when I deliver my twins. I wanted to expand on the oils I chose and my protocol for using each.
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AuthorAllesanda received her Bachelors in Behavioral Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in December 2013. She now lives in North Texas with her husband and children. As a doula and educator of infant sleep and eco-friendly living, she blogs about pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenting. Archives
January 2019
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